Students compete to grow Qatar company

Building a successful business takes research, money and hard work. And expanding it can seem like starting over.

A Qatar company got some help with its expansion plan at Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s 2012 Internal Case Competition. Teams of students worked against the clock to devise a growth plan for CarSemsar, a website connecting car sellers with buyers.

A longstanding Carnegie Mellon tradition, case competitions are an ideal way for students to put their studies into action in fast-paced strategic planning exercises. After receiving the case on Friday, teams got just 14 hours to turn their ideas into formal presentations.

The winning team, Alpha Consulting, bested eight other teams by recommending CarSemsar branch out into human resources, creating a site that would connect job seekers and potential employers.

“The Alpha team, Mashael Al Misnad, Mohamed Hussain, Amal Osman and Haider Zali, worked through the night to assemble a plan that impressed the case company and judges. Their creative solution and strong presenting edged them into the winner’s circle,” said J. Patrick McGinnis, assistant professor of business administration and the competition’s organizer.

Thirty-six business administration and information systems majors competed in the sixth annual competition, including three students from the Pittsburgh campus.

Carnegie Mellon Qatar alumnus Mohammed Al-Ibrahim and Shams Hasan, who co-founded CarSemsar, helped judge the competition. Also judging were Milton Cofield, executive director of Pittsburgh’s B.S. in business administration program, and Carnegie Mellon Qatar professors and alumni.